Speech Sound Play with Phonemies: A Sound Start to KS1 for Non-Speaking, EAL & Neurodivergent Learners
10-day plan with MySpeekie® to develop speech sound awareness through Phonemies Play – before starting systematic synthetic phonics (SSP).
Nothing Like This Exists—Until Now.
By getting each child to the point where they truly understand how the alphabetic code works—how speech sounds map to print—they no longer rely so heavily on structured, stage-by-stage teaching, or have to ask for help!
Instead, they begin to explore words independently, build confidence, and move more quickly towards reading for meaning, for pleasure, and with an intrinsic desire to read.
This is how we reduce cognitive load, bypass the barriers that hold so many back, and create the conditions where less teaching leads to more learning—because reading becomes something they want to do, not just something they are taught to do.
The Code Unlocked!
The WHOLE Alphabetic Code—Fully Visible for the First Time
For the first time in the history of teaching reading and spelling, the entire alphabetic code has been made visible to children.
Until now, learners have only been shown fragments of the code, introduced slowly through carefully staged phonics programmes. Most children are expected to memorise, wait, and guess their way through English—often never seeing the full system behind it.
Phonemies changes that.
Children are no longer constrained by what is "taught" first. With Phonemies and MySpeekie®, every phoneme has a face, every grapheme has a voice—and every word is available to explore, from day one.
They can finally:
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See how speech sounds map to print across the entire code
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Explore any word they care about—not just CVCs or staged decodables
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Strengthen phonemic awareness, phonological working memory, and vocabulary through meaningful exploration
And they do it in a way that’s developmentally appropriate, playful, and fully inclusive of learners with SLCN, EAL, dyslexia risk, and neurodivergent profiles.
This isn’t a phonics programme.
This is the foundation phonics assumes is already there.
Children who use Speech Sound Play with Phonemies are not just being prepared for phonics instruction—they’re becoming independent, curious code-quackers!
They don’t have to wait to be taught.
They don’t have to guess.
They don’t fall behind.
The alphabetic code is no longer a mystery. It's unlocked.
And for the first time ever, ALL learners can see ALL of it.
